A Truth Universally Acknowledged
by Rachel Cabbit
Summary: Based on Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice. The Earth is ruled by Saiyan overlords and Bulma Briefs resents their presence. When the proud Saiyan Prince himself arrives, her prejudice prevents civility despite a growing attraction between them.


**Author Notes:**

This first chapter has been hanging around on my computer for a long time; nearly a year in fact before I eventually published it. I have recently gone back and revised this chapter and have started on new chapters, so this is a work in progress story, most likely with slow updates.

Unlike a lot of P&P/DBZ crossover fan fiction that is floating about at present, this one is an attempt to combine the 2 in a more equal balance, set in an alternate Dragonball Z universe, rather than Regency England. Not every character lends themselves to the Jane Austen treatment, so please forgive the odd tweak here and there, though I promise to try my very best to keep them as true to their Dragonball characters as possible. I would like to surprise you at times rather than have you know everything that will happen by knowing the Pride and Prejudice storyline.

_I would appreciate any reviews, as your responses help me improve my stories and writing skills, and let me know if I am on the right track._

_ Thank you._

_**Chapter One: A Truth Universally Acknowledged**_

It is a truth universally acknowledged that the Saiyan race is fearsome and powerful and that resistance is futile. It doesn't matter whether or not the feelings of the soon-to-be conquered planet are that of bravery and stubbornness, as the planet is seen by the Saiyans as their rightful property, and nothing can be done to stop them.

The planet Earth learned this the hard way. The Earthlings fought bravely for almost a year, in the hopes of protecting their planet from the villainous race that was slowly gaining possession of the universe. They suffered such a huge loss of life that in the end, even the most stubborn and proud of the Earthlings found solace in their defeat. As war ended and they began a peaceful life of servitude, they were unhappy but safe for the foreseeable future. The Saiyans saw victory as one step closer to their ultimate goal and, despite thinking of the Earthlings as far inferior to themselves, they did at least note that they were not completely weak and they had their uses. They allowed the planet's people to live rather than purging the Earth's surface and creating a Saiyan colony as they had done many times before to less worthy planets. In return for their lives, the Earthlings followed Saiyan orders, aiding the Saiyan cause by building weapons and doing research, looking after their Saiyan overlords on their stay at Earth.

This was how it had been for years, and those who rebelled were quickly taken care of by the might of the Saiyans stationed to keep order. Occasionally, however, an Earthling managed to injure or kill a Saiyan and a replacement needed to be dispatched as soon as possible.

*****

"Kakarot..."

An armoured Saiyan with oddly shaped spiky black hair stepped forward and kneeled on the floor, his arm at a salute across his chest plate.

"Kakarot, you are to be an officer on the planet Earth. You may leave as soon as possible."

The kneeling Saiyan nodded his head.

"Yes, Your Majesty." He replied, standing up and leaving the room through the automatic doors.

The King looked on in thought, masking his frown with his hand as he stroked his beard. He'd had to send stronger and stronger warriors to Earth. Perhaps he would need to think about culling some of the Earthlings as a warning to those rebels?

His son looked up in amusement, a smirk tugging at his lips.

"Father, it seems odd, does it not, that a planet so deficient in power can kill the trained soldiers of the Saiyan army? That was the third transfer this month."

King Vegeta turned to his son, who was positioned on the throne room steps.

"Yes, I was just mulling over that thought myself. However we can at least say that Kabege was killed through his own incompetence and by a weapon of Saiyan design rather than Earthling. It would be quite disconcerting if the Earthling had caught him while awake and had used a simple human weapon."

The Prince agreed, his gaze wandering to the doors the 3rd class warrior had exited through.

"Perhaps, Father, I shall join Kakarot on his station on Earth. Maybe my presence will teach the Saiyan warriors to be alert at all times. Sleeping on the job is a weakness and I detest any form of weakness whatsoever. The Earthlings I can tolerate as long as they do not attempt to think highly of themselves and if I am there I'm sure they shall be on their best behaviour." He smirked at himself, thinking of how he would punish those who forgot their place below him.

King Vegeta thought for a moment, running his hand over his moustache then finally agreeing with his son.

"So it's settled then." Prince Vegeta stated, standing up from his seat on the steps, "I am to go to Earth with Kakarot and control the Earth's population into complete obedience." He laughed. _The perfect chance to vent my anger and continue my investigation of the rebellious Earthling alliance... _He thought darkly, his eyes hardening.

With that he left the throne room under the curious gaze of his father.

****

"Wipe that smile off your face, Kakarot! Saiyans don't smile, they smirk." Vegeta ordered to the young warrior. He himself had to control his urge to laugh at the picture before him.

"I can't help it, Sir." Kakarot beamed, "I'm just so relieved that I won't be going there alone."

Vegeta rolled his eyes and tried to ignore Kakarot's celebrating his joining him to Earth. Kakarot was all smiles and friendliness, chatting away to Vegeta who only half listened.

Kakarot really was a unique Saiyan. He was the only Saiyan Vegeta had ever known who was bright and cheerful and almost always smiling. It earned him a lot of teasing from the other warriors but made Kakarot someone useful to have around in warfare. The joker-like appearance was masking his true power, and Vegeta knew that Kakarot was capable of high levels. He himself had often found it beneficial to spar with him, despite his lower social ranking. He was the son of a general and although not from the noble line, he was of a respectful military background and had proven himself to be worthy of the Prince's acquaintance. With another goofy grin, Kakarot turned to Vegeta.

"Hey… you haven't told me how we are getting to Earth…" he mentioned blinking a few times. Vegeta sighed through clenched teeth, quickly becoming annoyed by Kakarot's usual over-familiar behaviour. He explained to his friend that they were to travel by space pods but the questioning did not cease.

As they walked to the hanger, the Prince was asked about everything from where Earth was to what food there was on Earth. Vegeta ignored many of the questions and was relieved when finally they arrived.

Normally Vegeta disliked travelling by space pod, as he always felt cramped when he arrived at his destination, however his choice was influenced by the fact that the pods were individual and he would not have to put up with Kakarot's constant talking for the journey.

While inside the pods, Vegeta felt peace. He activated the hyper sleep as soon as he had punched in the co-ordinates of Earth. He drifted off into slumber thinking of what awaited him on that small blue and green planet.

*****

Capsule Corporation was a huge building in what was formally known as West City. It had been the home to the Briefs - a rich family that had made their fortune out of the invention of the capsule, a small device that was able to compress matter and therefore store any sized object in a transportable container.

It was this reason that the Capsule Corp building remained standing while the rest of the city had diminished in size and population when the Saiyans took over. Capsule Corporation had become one of the most important places on Earth and there was almost always a few Saiyans hanging about it, making sure the technology Dr Briefs was making was going to the Saiyans and not against them.

Dr Briefs, the creator of the world-changing invention, was father to three daughters.

His eldest daughter was a pretty, raven-haired girl who was known as one of the most beautiful girls in the city. Her name was Chi-Chi and she was quite sweet natured and talented at cooking, which she learned from her mother.

The second daughter was only a year younger than Chi-Chi, and had turquoise-green hair and bright blue eyes, sharp wit and a playful attitude. Bulma, as she was called, was her father's favourite and was often found working with him in the laboratories.

The youngest was two years Bulma's junior and like her older sister, she had blue eyes and green hair, though hers was slightly darker. She was a little taller than her older sisters but nowhere near as sensible, despite being quite attractive. She was known as Merron and was seen as Mrs. Briefs' identical daughter in that she was air-headed and silly, but unlike her mother she had an obsession with shopping and would spend whenever she could, despite Earth's economic crisis under the rule of the Saiyans.

The elder two Miss Briefs were quite close sisters, though both sharing the same sometimes violent temper. Chi-Chi, when in a good mood, was sweet and kind, helpful and reserved. Bulma was sarcastic and cynical but playful. The girls understood their own and each other's faults and those of their family.

Their younger sister was flirty and boisterous, with no intelligence and no respect for anyone or anything; their father was often wrapped in work and he was fearful of the Saiyans; their mother, like their sister, was flirty and air headed but she also enjoyed to tease her daughters and played matchmaker in her spare time, setting her daughters up with any young man who passed through the double doors of the Capsule Corp building.

Mrs. Briefs one day came rushing through the living room of their home all in a flutter.

"What's wrong, Mom?" Chi-Chi asked looking up from her darning socks.

"Saiyans... Cookies... Men… must... Marriage…" her mother mumbled as she flitted around.

Bulma, sitting at the corner desk drawing up blueprints for a new capsule, exchanged a puzzled glance with her older sister before shaking her head and continuing with her work.

"Slow down, Mom. We can't understand a word you're saying" Chi-Chi replied, looking at her mother with concern.

Mrs Briefs stopped and looked at her daughter and then let out a giggle.

"Of course! Silly me! I meant to say that there are some new Saiyans who have arrived on Earth and they are going to visit us here." She giggled again.

Bulma looked up from her work once more at the mention of Saiyans.

"I must bake some cookies to welcome them, after all, they could be quite handsome and it would be quite nice to have one of them fall in love with one of my daughters!" She buzzed about before asking Chi-Chi to help her bake the cookies in the kitchen.

Giving her sister a worried glance, Chi-Chi followed her mother.

Bulma sighed.

Her mother had always wanted her daughters to marry, and now with the Saiyans being the over lords of Earth she'd gained a great desire to have each of her daughters wedded to some handsome and powerful Saiyan warrior. Bulma had never understood why she believed this possible, especially with the strict laws forbidding Human-Saiyan marriage. Bunny Briefs was one of those who liked to have everything first, so why not a daughter wedded to a Saiyan?

Bulma grew annoyed. She hated Saiyans for what they did to the planet. There was no way she was going to marry a Saiyan. Not after they enslaved the human race, destroyed homes and murdered the innocent and brave. Just thinking about them made her angry.

Unable to continue with her blueprints or put up with hearing her mother's twittering about handsome Saiyans she stood up, grabbed her coat and headed out for a walk.

She rushed through the doors of her once happy home, glaring defiantly at the huge Saiyans who stood guard. They eyed her suspiciously but did nothing, their scouters sensing no high power level.

Crossing the street she walked over to a dilapidating building similar to her own home, the living quarters of her father's friend and employee, Dr Gero, and his android daughter. Eighteen, as she was called, happened to be a good friend to the elder Briefs daughters.

Eighteen's cool blue eyes watched Bulma as she entered the kitchen in which the android sat, reading a newspaper. She noticed Bulma looking quite angry, her hair tied back into a ponytail with a pink ribbon, but escaping with aid from the wind outside. Her eyes sparked with fire and her cheeks rosy from the autumn coldness. She slowly placed the newspaper down onto the chunky wooden table in front of her and leant forward on her elbow, propping her head up with her hand, nonchalantly.

"Why so moody?" Eighteen asked calmly, eyebrow raised and voice monotonous.

"Why do you think?" Bulma answered snappily, forgetting herself for an instant. She sighed and flopped down into the chair opposite.

"Sorry. It's just... Mom. She keeps talking about the Saiyans."

"You mean the two Saiyans rumoured to be arriving in West City this week?" Her friend queried, tapping the front page of the 'West City Times' which she had dropped onto the table. Bulma nodded sadly.

Eighteen may have been an android but she looked remarkably human. She had shoulder length straight blonde hair, and ellipse-like ice-blue eyes. She dressed in human clothes. She could easily be mistaken for a depressed teenager, with her voice often sounding cold and sarcastic. She wasn't always like that though, as Bulma had found out. Eighteen was quite playful and sensible. Bulma trusted Eighteen with her thoughts, knowing her friend would never betray her to the Saiyans. She told her of her hatred for them and found a sympathetic, levelheaded advisor.

"Have you tried ignoring your mother?" she suggested.

Bulma nodded, explaining that her mother was quite difficult to ignore since she was so loud.

"Well, all I can suggest is earphones and some loud, angry music."

"Eighteen, how exactly will that calm me down and solve the problem of my mother making me angry, if the music makes me angry instead?"

"Exactly that - plus you won't have to hear her talk about Saiyans." Eighteen smiled, drawing one from Bulma in the process. "You're going to be angry no matter what so you might as well blame the music rather than your mother..."

Bulma smiled at her friend. She was right, as always.

"I'd rather not be angry at all thank you very much, Eighteen." She laughed.

"Well I see no chance of that happening, what with your temper and the Earth's current situation. As long as there are Saiyans on this planet you will get angry. In fact, although your anger would not erupt so often, I believe you'd still be angry a lot even if the Saiyans had never existed." Eighteen leaned back in her chair as Bulma glared playfully at her friend.

"The only advice I can offer is that you stay out of your mother's way as much as possible. That way, you lessen the chance of talk about Saiyans. Also, keeping away from your father's lab would be a good idea too, since Saiyans are bound to be there. If you're lucky, you might not even have to meet the new Saiyans."

Bulma nodded, thanking her friend for the advice and resolving to stay out of her parent's way and avoid these new additions to the Earth's Saiyan population.

*****

"Wow… this planet looks a mess!" Kakarot commented, looking around at the debris filled ruins of what was once West City. "Why did we even bother conquering such a dump, Vegeta?"

Vegeta glared disbelieving at his comrade.

"Kakarot, do not tell me you are serious in that statement."

Kakarot blinked.

"Ok, I won't tell you then."

Vegeta groaned in annoyance. Choosing to ignore Kakarot's stupidity, he began to discuss important matters.

The Prince and his friend had landed half an hour earlier, just outside of West City. Vegeta was determined to look around at the destruction caused by his race, and he couldn't help but grin in triumph at what he saw.

Rubble everywhere, huge gaping holes in the sides of once pristine white buildings, girders hanging out of skyscrapers dangerously in twisted positions just above the heads of any passers by, which Vegeta noticed, seemed non-existent in this part of the once-huge city. Walking on the cracked paving stones, the Saiyans' feet kicked up dust. There were upturned vehicles in their path, which Vegeta took great delight in kicking out of their way. They headed towards a huge well-maintained building that stood out against the disrepair and destruction of the rest of the city. It was the Saiyan's compound, a place for important soldiers to stay while on Earth. There were many buildings surrounded by a wall and burly Saiyan guards as a warning for Earthlings to keep away. The building they were heading towards was the gatehouse, allowing them entrance to the compound. It was to be where the Prince and Kakarot would be staying. The Saiyans bowed to the Prince as he entered, and they were soon shown to their accommodation. A huge steel enforced building, with an interior decorated similar to the Saiyan palace was to be their home for the foreseeable future. There was a great marble floor and a throne in the main area of the building, a place for Vegeta to sit and think. Leading off from this room were two corridors with automatic sliding doors. Both Kakarot and Vegeta had their own ensuite bathrooms in their bedrooms, which had pin code protected doors. There were two high intensity level training rooms, each having a 'gravity increase system' designed and personally installed by Dr Briefs. Other perks included an automatic meal preparation system and an information centre with vast amounts of electronic texts on Earth and its inhabitants. These were installed the rooms leading off from the two corridors either side of the throne. The building had an air of royalty to it with the fine floors and rich decor, but maintained a sterile scientific quality found in spaceships, with the technology and muted colours. Once their new settings were inspected and found to be of suitable standard by Vegeta, the two warriors headed off on their first mission: find Dr. Briefs.

"Kakarot, it is imperative that we find this 'Capsule Corp.' building."

Kakarot nodded, as if he understood, but really he couldn't see the point of leaving their building, which was filled with comforts like a bed, food and training facilities, just to go out into a destroyed city and find some old scientist, stand around talking and then come back. It would be a lot better if they just stayed in one place. Or at least rested for a little bit.

"Let's go." Ordered the prince, putting an end to Kakarot's thoughts of sleeping, eating and fighting - his three favourite things. "We'll pay a call on Dr. Briefs…"

* * *

_**End of Chapter 1**_


End file.
